World Cup: Sports betting threatens support for Super Eagles
News & Trends •
a businessman chima okenwa said the introduction of football betting in the country had exposed the business aspect of the game1 some fans of the super eagles of nigeria have expressed fears that the proliferation of sports betting outfits in the country might affect the expected unwavering support for the team in russia1 the eagles are in group d alongside the albiceleste of argentina icelands strkarnir okkar our boys and vatreni of croatia1 online betting shop1 the eagles open their account at the world cup against the vatreni of croatia on saturday at 8 p.m1 a number of the fans said the supporters were now scampering for money through football betting1 they were of the opinion that the days when fans had no options than to support the team were gone adding that sports betting had opened a new vista with which sports enthusiasts could make money1 sports betting dates as far back as the time of greek city states about 2000 years ago1 the romans then adopted this from the greeks and turned it into a money generating source via the arena gladiators games1 although efforts were made to squash sports betting in the middle ages but sports betting already had its hold on the people and those efforts were futile1 some of the fans expressed their fears while speaking on the coupe de mundial which begins on thursday with the news agency of nigeria nan on tuesday in abuja1 okenwa said it was now customary for some fans to tip their teams to lose a match against probable superior opponents to increase their chances during staking1 vitalis momah a civil servant aligning with okenwa said it is now all about the money involved in staking a bet1 since i got into football betting i erased emotion and sentiment from my lexicon. i now watch games with the hope to win money from them1 according to him the world cup provides 30 days of hope and aspiration for fans to make money from many fronts1 however i sincerely pray for the super eagles to perform well at the coupe de mundial but the players need to assure me before i can tip them against their opponents while betting he said1 smith oklobia also a civil servant said he had prepared to invest money in all the matches that would be played adding that he could only pray for teams he would mark for victory1 this is not to say i will not pray for the super eagles i am patriotic but it is time to make some cash he said1 on his part mohammed abubakar said the eagles remained his number one team to support adding however that football betting had changed the fans following configuration in the country1 i do bet sometimes with club football. the world cup is like war and therefore we must support our team abubakar said1 there are approximately 19 functional online sports betting sites that can be accessed by people in nigeria1